Another city's leadership has weighed in on the constitutional amendment that will be on the May 8 ballot. The amendment seeks to define marriage recognized by the state as only between one man and one woman.

The City of New Bern Aldermen passed a resolution in support of North Carolina Amendment One, 5 to 2 last night. Both Mayor Lee Bettis and Mayor Pro-tem Victor Taylor voted against the resolution, and Mayor Bettis is refusing to sign it, according to New Bern Public Information Officer Colleen Maloney.

City Attorney Scott Davis said he would research how to authenticate the resolution without the signature of the mayor. Maloney says she doesn't know if a situation has ever arisen in New Bern before where the mayor would not signed a passed resolution. However, if it had ever happened before, it must have been several years ago.

Maloney says the issue was moved up in the agenda for Tuesday night's meeting since there was a group of about 20 people there interested in the topic. Maloney also notes that the majority of the crowd Tuesday night were from local non-profit groups seeking special appropriations for the upcoming fiscal year. Following the discussion by the aldermen, no vote was taken. However, when the mayor reached the item on its original place in the agenda, near the end of the meeting, Maloney says Mayor Bettis realized they needed to take a formal vote on a resolution in support of North Carolina Amendment One.

Earlier this month, the Greenville City Council passed a resolution against the so-called "marriage amendment."

Online Public Information File

Viewers with disabilities can get assistance accessing this station's FCC Public Inspection File by contacting the station with the information listed below. Questions or concerns relating to the accessibility of the FCC's online public file system should be directed to the FCC at 888-225-5322, 888-835-5322 (TTY), or fccinfo@fcc.gov.